Christmas Confidence Boost - Photo Fun

Confidence isn't something that comes naturally to me. Some people have that ability to run up to strangers and talk for hours, I often shy away and quickly develop thoughts about how I look. Am I too fat? Does my face look too round? Okay, I know, I'm dressed like an idiot today aren't I? My ex boyfriend would constantly criticize me and say that 'I make the human race sound very discriminative' as I would always think people are analysing every aspect of my body when we first meet. In reality, all the voices in my head are just the little insecurities that nag me on a daily basis. Granted, someone will have walked past me one day and thought 'gosh, she's a little weird looking', but not everyone thinks the same. Since starting University and getting engaged to an amazing man who makes me feel like a million dollars on a daily basis, my confidence has dramatically improved.. Some would say I'm a completely changed person, but to be fair, I'm still quite shy and often reserved, I've just learnt that to progress in my life, sometimes we need to adapt a protective shield and embrace who we are. If people don't like who you are as a person, they are not worth knowing. To quote Mr Kurt Cobain, the former lead singer of rock band Nirvana: "I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for someone I'm not."

Christmas is supposed to be the time of fun and laughter, but for women, there's a little added pressure to slim down into that Little Black Dress and look immaculate for party season. Confidence can take a huge hit at Christmas and when you're eating so much, you can suddenly feel like you're the Christmas turkey. This was the Christmas I wanted to feel the best about myself. Last year I was getting used to my slimmer body after losing weight - I was playing around with dresses and trying to discover what suited my new figure. I've now had a year to adapt and finally ready to have fun this festive season. Last week, I was asked to model for a friend who's a photographer. The old me would have probably shuddered and decided it wasn't the best idea, but I decided to embrace it as I thought it would be a lovely way to show you all my new dress, get some professional images for my blog and have a lovely day catching up with my old tutor. I'm definitely not a model, but I had so much fun doing all the modelling malarkey.

Here's some of the photographs taken on the day. The blue sequinned dress is by my favourite brand French Connection and can be bought for £165. This 'Samantha dress' was purchased as a Christmas treat for myself. I love this outfit, because it covers all my insecurities and leaves me with a slimline silhouette. When I tried it on for the first time at my local House of Fraser, I knew this dress was definitely made for my body.

I feel like I resemble a chipmunk in this photograph, but I love the colours in my shirt. This blouse was bought from H&M and was part of the Lana Del Rey range. She is one of my favourite modern singers and I'd definitely consider her as one of my style influences.

Doing this photo shoot made me realise that although I'm not perfect, I'm not that bad either. I love my hair, my body is quite curvy and my eyes never fail to stand out. To live a happy life, we all need to look at our imperfections and realise that it's what makes us unique, a one of a kind model and perfect in our own little way.

In case you ever doubt yourself, I'm telling you now: You are BEAUTIFUL! I really don't think that people criticize us as much as we think. I used to think that way all the time. I realized my own thinking was only hurting myself. And who cares if someone thinks we're strange looking? lol. We all have flaws. And I love that you quoted Kurt Cobain :)

Great post! I love your story and your style. You look fantastic! I love your outfits. I know it is hard to not worry what others think about us...but just hold your head high and know that you are gorgeous and rockin' what you are wearing :)

:) Your honesty is refreshing. And your ex sounds like a total jerk. Girls don't have insecurities for fun or because they want to...it's because they learn that their appearance is EVERYTHING. If I have daughters one day I hope I can teach them they are more than their body and hopefully they won't focus on it so much. Good to hear you're growing out of being self critical too! You can only go up from here :D <3

This post was so beautiful! I agree with everything that you said. There's too much pressure to be perfect as a woman when we should be happy for being ourselves with all our imperfects. The photos look fantastic. Props to your photographer friend. You both worked at it to make them so lovely.

You look amazing! Without sounding too creepy, you have amazing hair and a gorgeous figure - your legs are awesome! And that sequinned dress is lovely too. It's lovely to hear you're starting to develop the confidence you deserve! :)